The political boundaries in the map below will give you an idea of the many states and where they are positioned.

Map of Africa's Climates

Africa has a mixture of different climates which are very much dependent on rainfall. The climate zones include:
• Tropical Rainforest - found in the centre of the continent mainly between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, as well as the eastern coast of
Madagascar
• Humid sub-tropical - which is found in the south west
• Mediterranean - found in the north coast of the Mediterranean Sea and also in the south east
• Savannah - found on the boundaries of the tropical rainforest areas in the north and south of the tropics
• Steppe - found even further north and south of the Savannah, this area is more arid
• Desert - the largest desert in the world, the Sahara, is found in the north, while the Kalahari is found in the south

Climates of Africa

Map of Africa's Vegetation

The vegetation in Africa very much depends on the climate and rainfall
patterns, more specifically - heat and moisture. You can see this when you
compare the satellite map below with the climate map above.

Satellite map showing Africa's vegetation
density

The vegetation in the region bordering the Mediterranean Sea, the vegetation is termed Mediterranean forest, which is characterised by orange groves, olive trees, evergreen oaks, pines, myrtles, and the like.

South of the coast and the Atlas mountains lies the Sahara
region, which is the large light coloured area in the map above. The desert has
plants which have adapted to very dry climate such as the date palm. Entering
the semi-desert area, we find plenty of the acacia variety.

Further south lies the more humid regions with tropical woodlands and
savannah grasslands, to dense evergreen tropical forest such as those found in West Africa
and the Equatorial region.

Below the Equator, the vegetation goes from thick tropical forests to more
savannah bush and grasslands, to semi-desert and desert. Along the eastern part
of the African continent, we find a few highlands (especially below the "horn of
Africa"), which are characterised by similar vegetation to that of the eastern
Mediterranean mountains, the Himalaya and Indo-China.

Map of Africa's Population Density

The population density of an area is the number of people living per square
kilometre of that area, i.e. inhabitants/km2. Africa's population density is shown below.

Africa's Population Density

Here is a song about the countries of Africa:

Click on the links below for detailed information on these topics relating
specifically to Africa..